A case brought by the state against human rights activist Edward Horgan as a result of his requests to have a suspected CIA rendition plane searched at Shannon was dismissed in Ennis yesterday (20th May). Judge Mangan, presiding over Shannon District Court, dismissed the case on the basis of legal arguments made by Mr Horgans defence council.

About 27 people attended an Easter Peace Vigil at Shannon airport. Seven were peace activists, from Shannon, Limerick, Galway, Dublin and Cork, and the remainder were Gardai and airport police. Within the airport fence a US Hercules C 130 warplane was being protected by a unit of the Irish army, and an Omni Air chartered US troopcarrier was also parked in the centre of the aerodrome.

The March 2009 figures for US military use of Shannon Airport show that the Irish state continues to provide large-scale support for the failed and brutalising occupation of Iraq. Over the course of the month at least 98 commercial airlines used for US troop transport landed at the airport. Most of these were Omni Air International registered planes but they also included a small number of North American Airlines on US military business.

Two Irish activists at the "No to NATO - No to War" Conference in Strasbourg on 3-5 April presented an innovative, hi-tech approach to monitoring transits by US military and CIA aircraft at the supposedly "civilian" airport at Shannon, in the west of Ireland. And the sophisticated cyber warfare that has been waged against their website suggests that their hi-tech surveillance activities present a real threat to the interests of the military-industrial complex.

A Peace Forum took place at Shannon Airport on the 6th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War, in which the Irish Government was a willing participant. The Iraq and Afghan wars have led to the unlawful and unjustified deaths of up to one million people. This forum was held to highlight the need for accountability for the Irish Governments complicity with the war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan.